May 29th, 2008 · Comments Off

What’s new to talk about this Thursday at OnlineBibleWorld? If you were curious or wanted to buy coins from the time of Jesus, there’s a new online site that provides information and sales Tyre Shekel, or “Judas coins”.

Also, a new survey out describes how different Southern Baptists feel about some key issues compared to the public.

And finally, another article described how New York must recognize out-of-state ‘gay marriage’ even though it isn’t legal in New York.

Let’s get to the links…

Site for Tyre Shekel or “Judas Coins”

You may have never thought about buying coins from the time of Jesus. Coin News writes about a new online site by First Fidelity Reserve called “The Money of the Bible.” The site provides information on Tyre Shekel or “Judas coins,” which are believed to be the same type coins offered to Judas.

The CEO of First Fidelity Reserve was quoted as saying:

“Our goal was to provide numismatists who collect coins of antiquity, a site that gives the historical background of these important coins, called the Tyre Shekel.”

Welcome back to OnlineBibleWorld after the extended weekend break! In today’s news, a Catholic group in Texas is hoping to help illegal immigrants, Iran arrests 12 Christians with 4 still in custody, and the Vatican unveiled a large pagan tomb that’s been under restoration for nearly a year. Let’s get to the links…

Catholic Group Wants to Help Illegal Immigrants

A Catholic group in San Antonio, TX, is planning to provide shelter, food and health care for illegal immigrants who fear new local immigration-related laws and massive raids.

“We are the new Sanctuary Movement in San Antonio,” said group member Victor Ruiz, 63, who works for the immigration division of Catholic Charities. “If immigrants need help, we will do all we can to help them out.”

Today’s Christian news articles cover schools and students. In the first, Southern Baptists are getting behind a resolution to fight their claim that California schools indoctrinate pro-gay messages. The Church of England provides a prayer to help in fighting exam stress. And finally, a Wisconsin school district drop their ‘John 3:16′ ban after a lawsuit, which pointed out the school allowed demon, Grim Reaper and other images. Let’s get to the links…

California Schools ‘Indoctrinate’ Pro-Gay Messages

A group of Southern Baptists are getting behind a resolution that condemns the California school system for what they claim is a recent "tolerance" campaign endorsing homosexuality.

Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., a preacher and lecturer in the Southern Baptist denomination, and Bruce N. Shortt, author of The Harsh Truth About Public Schools, created the resolution in response to California Senate Bill 777. Baucham and Shortt claim that SB 777 indoctrinates students:

May 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off

In today’s news, there’s an article regarding the Catholic growth rate in several countries, and a court ruling today said Texas was to extreme and exceeded their authority by taking over 400 FLDS children. And finally, another survey. This one involves science teachers and what they teach. Let’s get to the links…

Catholic Church growth in Africa and other countries

The Catholic Church is experiencing its largest growth in Africa. It’s seeing a decline in Europe and Brazil. And having little change in the U.S.. That’s accroding to the Vatican.

The number of Catholics in Africa have increased from 12.4 percent to 14 percent between 2000 and 2006. In Europe, Catholics fell from 26.8 percent to 25 percent. In Brazil, the numbers are down to 67 percent compared to a high of about 90 percent in the 1960s.

May 21st, 2008 · Comments Off

The next Indiana Jones movie will be out shortly, and a Christian review checks how it stacks up. In an amazing, must read story, pilots who ran out of gas pray for a safe landing. They get one, and more. And finally for today, another survey that reflects how Christians feel about Hollywood. Let’s get to the links…

Review of latest Indiana Jones movie

Many are anxiously awaiting the new Indiana Jones installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. While the epic movie is only a few hours away from release, how does it rate for Christians?

"Parents of children anxious to see the film will need to decide for themselves whether the flagged elements might be worrisome to them or their youngsters, but it seems to us that, a handful of passing curse words (no profanity) and the bloodless violence aside, the film … makes generally unobjectionable viewing for older teens and up."

May 20th, 2008 · Comments Off

There are a couple of interesting Christian news articles today. The first touches on a survey of British adults asking whether God is male or female. The second article discusses the Shroud of Turin and how contamination may have resulted in incorrect carbon dating results in the late 80s. The final article is about proposed Michigan legislation that would mandate paying for contraception, if employers offered prescription drug coverage. Let’s get to the links…

A survey of 1,050 adults in Britain reports that 62% believe God is male, and 1% believe God is female.

The survey was commissioned by the Movement for Reform Judaism in Britain to coincide with its launch of its new daily and Sabbath prayer book, or Siddur.

For more results, including how many think religions discriminate on grounds of gender, read I believe… God is man.

May 19th, 2008 · Comments Off

Christian news for today includes an article about a restraining order for an autistic boy that prevents him from attending his church, the Pope calling for a “strong and credible” accord against cluster bombs, and a new survey that shows 70% of Americans believe Divorce is “morally acceptable. Let’s get to the brief summaries and links…

A Minnesota mother of a 13-year old boy was told not to bring her autistic son to church, or she would be arrested.

The church Carol Race normally attends with her family took out a restraining order against her son, who can apparently become violent or loud sometimes.

May 16th, 2008 · Comments Off

Christian news articles for the day include: a school prayer club whose members pray before the first bell rings, a 10 year old in remission from leukemia who would like like to use her Make-A-Wish Foundation “wish” to help others, and a prayer for Chinese Catholics from the Pope. On to the links…

Students at Ballou Senior High School have joined a club to pray before school starts.

“When you wake in the morning and are mad and you are upset, you can come in and have some Gospel and some prayer, and have a happy day,” said LaShell Frye, 17, an honors student who took part in the first gathering of the group last month.

The prayer club is completely in the hands of students — they organize and run it.

May 16th, 2008 · Comments Off

Christian news highlights for today include an article about veterans being encouraged to use the G.I. Bill for missionary studies, the California Supreme Court overturning state laws to recognize same-sex marriage, and the Pacific Justice Institute suing some UC Berkeley staff members for a federally funded website they believe is promoting certain Christian denominations over others. On to the links…

Veterans are being encouraged to use their G.I. Bill for missionary school. The Christian group called The Master’s Mission (TMM) invites veterans to enroll in an eleven-month, $17,600 program to get the

“training and resources necessary to become effective missionaries.”

The program is apparently approved for use by the Montgomery GI Bill and Veterans Educational Assistance Program, and veterans could be ideally suited for some of the newly planned missionary regions, like Afghanistan and Iraq. [Read more →]

May 14th, 2008 · Comments Off

In today’s Christian news, find out if it’s okay for Catholics to believe in aliens, read about the $30M GLC invested in the Christian version of YouTube, check out Televangelist John Hagee’s apology to Catholics, and learn about the dentist who was fined $10,000 for offering unwanted spiritual advise/prayers. Okay, let’s get to the links…

Is it a sin or unfaithful to believe in extra terrestrial aliens? Not so according to the Vatican’s chief astronomer, Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes.

“How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?” Funes said. “Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother,’ and ‘sister,’ why should we not talk about an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? It would still be part of creation.”

As such, belief in alien life does not contradict the faith in God. How about the Big Bang theory, the universe beginning billions of years ago, and more? [Read more →]